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Dorothy Wang From ‘#RichKids Of Beverly Hills’ On Social Media, Branding And Reality TV

If you watch a lot of E! (and who doesn’t?) you’ve probably seen the RichKids Of Beverly Hills, a group of privileged LA-based twenty-somethings who live the good life. The show’s breakout star is Dorothy Wang, a spendy little spitfire who is ditching the funemployed life to roll out a few fun new products.

I interviewed Dorothy to find out a bit more about how she spends her time, her strategy for cultivating massive social media influence and the future of the reality show. Read on to hear more about Dorothy in her own words.

STATEMENT/scene: How did you get cast on #RichKids?

Dorothy Wang: Basically I wasn’t really cast on Rich Kids. a production company at E! saw my Instagram and they asked me if I wanted to be on the show and basically they wanted to develop a show around me. I immediately thought of Morgan to be on the show too because she’s hilarious. As the show progresses I always hear like ‘they asked me to join’ or ‘I want to a casting of Rich Kids’ and it’s like….that didn’t happen. If it was one of our five friends we brought in to develop the show with us then that is not true. Basically they saw my Instagram because I was on @RichKidsOfInstagram and they were like ‘she’s not famous, she’s just a regular girl, why are people so interested in her? How is she engaging so many people on Twitter and on Instagram and creating such a buzz?’ I think that it was kind of a natural progression to try and make a TV show out of it.

SS: What are your strategies? You’re obviously great with social media and that’s a skill that not just people but also brands are interested in learning.

DW: I honestly don’t know. I’ve never taken a social media strategy or marketing class. I just tweet whatever funny, sometimes over the top, truth bombs and I got a little following on Twitter, I would showcase my life and whatever I was doing at the moment. I was always very open and public and I think people got a sense of that. I know a lot of people really value their privacy and for some reason I never really did. I don’t really have any secrets. If I’m going to lunch here I don’t really care if people know I’m going to lunch at this place, with this person, at this time. I think that’s really important to gain a social media following. You have to gain people’s trust. Now my Instagram following is so much bigger than my Twitter following just because people like to see the visuals and I still put in the funny captions so I still get my thoughts and opinions in that way.

SS: How do you deal with haters on social media?

DW: Before the show came out it was really hard for me. It is kind of scary, we’re opening ourselves up for everyone to judge. Because we’re on a TV show everyone thinks they’re allowed to give their two cents and that we don’t feelings or we don’t care….which is semi true. I had to develop a thicker skin with everything. Now I’ll sit back and laugh. For every bad comment I’m getting three or four nice comments from my fans. That really helps. At the end of the day it’s hard because I’m a people pleaser. It’s hard because really get a misrepresentation of me so that’s kind of hard for me. I just have to remember that not everyone is going to like me and I can’t make everyone like me.

SS: What are you up to now aside from appearing on the show?

DW: We just finished press week for the show. I’m actually going to Hong Kong right now because my sister just had a baby. I’m working on my necklace line and you get to see more about that on the show. I’m also developing a champagne line called Rich and Bubbly. I wanted to make something fun and luxurious but have it available at an afforable price point. For my champagne I’m having an nonalcoholic version that will retail at around $15 and I’m also having a rose and a brut champagne that will probably be around $70.

SS: Did you always see yourself as someone who was entrepreneurial?

DW: I think that I always knew I wanted to start my own business. After going on the show I knew I had a story to tell and I know I was going to do it and that it’s a great platform to do all the things I was going to do. If I was going to start a luxury lifestyle brand, having a show that showcases my lifestyle and the things that I love, it’s obviously a great platform to build a business on.

SS: What were you doing before the show?

DW: After I graduated from USC I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. At the same time I kind of knew I wanted to have a TV show and be a television personality and launch these businesses off of that. I was kind of working towards that and kind of taking meetings for a few years also. I was also doing a lot of different internships. I interned for my dad, I travelled a lot, I interned for a jewelry company, I got my real estate license and was working on that for a little bit. I was really trying to find my passion. It was really a struggle for me to find what I wanted to do even though I had a lot of jobs, I didn’t feel like it was my passion. I always felt that my career would be branding myself.

SS: What’s the hardest thing about being on a reality show?

DW: Things get intensified on a reality show and sometimes what plays is not really accurate to what happened. My biggest curse is that I have the best memory in the world so I remember exactly what happened every time we film. If it doesn’t play true to what happened I get really upset. When things get glossed over or cut out or when a story isn’t told, I get upset. I hate the fighting. I honestly never want to fight with anyone about anything, especially on a show for the world to watch. I always wanted to be on a show that showcased our lives and we didn’t have to stoop down to a level of us creating drama and stuff like that.

SS: What advice do you have for somebody who wants to be on a reality show?

DW: Get ready to work. Honestly, you don’t really know until you do it how tiring it is, how big a part of your life it becomes. You basically don’t have time for anything else. It’s really important to stay true to yourself and not say or do things you wouldn’t normally do because you’re trying to get more screen time. At the end of the day, you have to live with yourself. Have fun with it – there are good parts and there are bad parts.

SS: What can we expect to see next on the show?

DW: Our season 3 is going to be coming up on May 24. I think you’re just going to see us growing up, our relationships, what’s going on in our lives.

How do you juggle everything you have going on?

DW: What people don’t know from watching the show is that when I’m not out to lunch with my friends, I’m working. It is tiring but you have to find time to fit it all in because it’s so easy to go through the whole season and think ‘oh my god, I was just enjoying myself the whole time and didn’t really do anything.’ I manage my time well. I know when it’s time to work and time to have fun.